“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because G...  Read More

Isaiah speaks of “the poor” and “the needy in distress.” Jesus would later echo this in the first beatitude:“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)Being po...  Read More

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt i...  Read More

I want to begin with a quick word: due to vacation and scheduling, we’re a few weeks behind on the blog. Over the coming days, I’ll be posting more frequently as we catch up together. Thank you for yo...  Read More

“For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.”  1 Corinthians 16:9 (ESV)When Paul wrote these words, he described a tension that every follower of Christ eventu...  Read More

“Obed-edom’s came out for the south, and to his sons was allotted the gatehouse.”  1 Chronicles 26:15 (ESV)Obed-edom is one of those fascinating figures in the Old Testament whose life demonstrates th...  Read More

Buried in the middle of a long genealogy in 1 Chronicles, we encounter a surprising interruption—two verses that shine like a beacon of hope in an otherwise monotonous list of names:“Jabez was more ho...  Read More

Psalm 135:19–21 is a triple (really quadruple) exhortation:"Bless the Lord, O house of Israel; Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron; Bless the Lord, O house of Levi;You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord! ...  Read More

Storms are inevitable.We all face them.But not all storms are created equal, and not all of them require the same response.Sometimes we’re quick to quote Jesus sleeping in the boat, or Paul prophetic ...  Read More

Faith in captivity, power in simplicity“Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mis...  Read More

Longing for Power Without the PriceAs I began reading Acts 8 again, a sobering thought struck me:  We say we want the Book of Acts, but do we really?We long for revival. We talk about miracles. We pre...  Read More

Rediscovering the Boldness of the Early ChurchThere’s a moment in Acts 4 that should stop every believer in their tracks.“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was s...  Read More